Service cost, utility charges concern Coastal Bend residents

CORPUS CHRISTI - A woman wondered if she was overcharged for an exterior blind repair, another woman wants others warned about wastewater charges, and a man saw through a pastor phone scam.

Someone mashed Patti Janosek's exterior storm blind with a hunk of concrete. She called those who installed it to find out about replacement. Two service men responded from Academy Window Coverings.

Janosek learned her aluminum hurricane blinds no longer are manufactured. A comparable replacement would cost more than $400. One of the men straighted the three slats that were mangled.

The blinds were operable afterward, Janosek, 84, said.

She was given a bill for $108.25, which she reluctantly paid. She contacted Troubleshooter to find out if she was overcharged.

The company's minimum service call in the city is $100, and $8.25 is for sales tax the company must pay, said Ernestine Valadez, co-owner of the business. Most service calls require two technicians, she said, because someone has to operate an exterior blind from inside, while another makes adjustments on the outside.

The company charges $25 more for out-of-town calls, including to Padre Island or Portland.

An alternative would have been for Janosek to file a claim with her homeowner's insurance company since the damage was caused by vandalism. The amount of her deductible would determine if it was worth the cost.

Academy Window Coverings has had two complaints with the Better Business Bureau, according to its website. Both were resolved, and the company has an A+ rating.

Save water now or pay later

Faye Bromfield placed new sod in January, which required watering until it took root.

Now she's paying for it, she said.

Bromfield asked Troubleshooter to remind people that the city assesses water usage from December through February to set wastewater charges, beginning in July, for the rest of the fiscal year.

Bromfield used less than 1,000 gallons of water last month that cost her $9.58. Her wastewater charge was $33.55. That's because it's based on her usage during the watering of her new sod nearly a year ago.

The goal of the wastewater averaging is to keep a more constant cost during summer watering.

If you have a leak during the winter averaging period, the city can make adjustments. Contact the customer call center at 826-3440 to request a winter quarter adjustment package, which you fill out and submit to the utilities business office along with receipts for the incident.

Police warn of phone scam

An 83-year-old Corpus Christi man got a call Thursday from a man claiming to be clergy with a U.S. embassy in Mexico City, police said.

The caller told him to wire $1,600 via Western Union to have his daughter released from a Mexican jail for possession of marijuana.

His daughter was in Missouri, where she lives.

It's not a new scam, but they continue because many people fall prey to convincing criminals, police said.

Police recommend talking with family, church and community groups to remind them not to give out banking, credit card or personnel information to any phone caller.